Performing a time measurement in a communication network

ABSTRACT

A method for performing a time measurement on a data flow transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver of a communication network is provided. The method comprises: at the transmitter, dividing the data flow in first and second time alternating blocks of data units, transmitting them, increasing a transmission counter while the first blocks are transmitted and setting a transmission timestamp to a current time when a predetermined data unit of each first block is transmitted; at the receiver, receiving the first and second blocks, increasing a reception counter while the first blocks are received and setting a reception timestamp to a further current time when the predetermined data unit of each first block is received; and at a management server, periodically detecting values of the transmission counter, the reception counter, the transmission timestamp and the reception timestamp, and using them for performing the time measurement.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of communication networks. Inparticular, the present invention relates to a method for performing atime measurement (in particular, measuring delay and/or interarrivaljitter) on a data flow transmitted from a transmitting node to areceiving node of a communication network. Further, the presentinvention relates to a communication network implementing such a method.

BACKGROUND ART

It is known that, in a packet-switched communication network, data aretransmitted in the form of packets that are routed from a source node toa destination node through possible intermediate nodes. Each packettypically has a header and a payload. The header generally includesinformation allowing routing of the packet, such as the source nodeaddress and the destination node address. On the other hand, the payloadgenerally comprises a portion of the data to be transmitted from thesource node to the destination node. Exemplary packet-switched networksare Local Area Networks (e.g. Ethernet) and Geographic Area Networks(e.g. Internet).

On the other hand, in circuit-switched networks data are transmitted inthe form of continuous bit flows carried from the source node to thedestination node within plesiochronous or synchronous frames. Exemplarycircuit-switched networks are PDH, SDH, Sonet and OTN networks.

Herein after, the expression “data unit” will designate a portion of adata flow transmitted in a communication network. In particular, in caseof a packet-switched network, a data unit may be a packet or a portionof a packet. Besides, in case of a circuit-switched network, a data unitmay be a plesiochronous frame, a portion of a plesiochronous frame, asynchronous frame or a portion of a synchronous frame.

Typically, a data unit is transmitted at a transmission time by thesource node and is received at a reception time by the destination node.The time elapsing between transmission time and reception time istypically called “one way delay” (or, briefly, “delay”). The delay of adata unit is therefore given by the following equation:

D(i)=Ri−Si,   [1 ]

where Si is the transmission time and Ri is the reception time of thedata unit.

The delay of a data unit mainly depends on the number of possibleintermediate nodes crossed by the data unit from source to destinationand on the permanence time of the data unit at the source node and ateach possible intermediate node.

In a circuit-switched network, paths along which data units aretransmitted are provisioned a priori by a network operator. Both thenumber of possible intermediate nodes crossed by data units and thepermanence time of data units at each node are therefore determined apriori. Accordingly, the delay of a data unit is predictable, and allthe data units of a same data flow have a same delay.

On the other hand, in a packet-switched network, data units are routedhop-by-hop by each node. Both the number of possible intermediate nodescrossed by data units and the permanence time of data units at each nodeare therefore unpredictable. Accordingly, the delay of a data unit isalmost unpredictable. Besides, data units of a same data flow may havedifferent delays.

In a packet-switched communication network, the difference in the delaysof two data units (i.e. packets) of a same data flow is termed“interarrival jitter”. In particular, if Si and Sj are the transmissiontimes for a first packet i and a second packet j, and Ri and Rj are thereception times for the first packet i and the second packet j, theinterarrival jitter may be expressed as:

J(i,,j)=(Rj−Ri)−(Sj−Si).   [2]

When a communication service (for instance, a voice or data service) isprovided by means of a communication network, the delay and interarrivaljitter of the data flows carrying the service strongly affect theQuality of Service perceived by the end users of the service. Inparticular, in case of real-time interactive services (calls, conferencecalls, video conferences, etc.), a high delay or high interarrivaljitter may severely impair the Quality of Service perceived by the endusers. Therefore, measuring the delay and interarrival jitters of thedata flows carrying these types of services is of particular interestfor network operators.

WO 84/00268 discloses a method for the determination of the time delayincurred by a packet as it progresses through a packet switching system,wherein each packet has a field for accumulating the total time delayincurred by the packet in the progressing through the switching networksof the packet switching system. The total time delay field is updated asthe packet is routed through each switching network of the packetsystem.

EP 0 234 860 discloses an arrangement for determining the random delayexperienced by packets as they progress through the transmission and/orswitching networks. A network node entry timestamp function inserts aso-called packet originate time value into a single timestamp field ofeach packet header. An exit timestamp function inserts an updatedtimestamp value into the timestamp field of the packet header in placeof the packet originate time upon the packet exiting the network node.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Applicant has noticed that the above known solutions of WO 84/00268and EP 0 234 860 have some drawbacks.

First of all, both solutions disadvantageously require a rather complexprocessing of each data unit (i.e. each packet) of the data flow, bothat the transmission side and at the reception side. For each data unit,at the transmission side a timestamp indicative of a transmission timeshould be generated and inserted in the data unit. Then, at thereception side, a timestamp indicative of the reception time should begenerated, the timestamp indicative of the transmission time should beread from the data unit and should be processed together with thetimestamp indicative of the reception time. The result of suchprocessing should then be written again in the data unit.

All the above operations are quite complex and, moreover, they should beperformed in a very short time, i.e. within the duration of a singledata unit. In view of the above, implementing the known solutionsmentioned above disadvantageously requires using a not negligible amountof computation resources at the nodes of the communication network.

Further, disadvantageously, according to the above known solutions theinformation that allows measuring delay and interarrival jitter aretransmitted within the data unit itself. This means that a field of eachdata unit must be reserved for transporting this information. Therefore,a not negligible amount of the bandwidth in the communication networkshould disadvantageously be reserved for transporting this information.

In view of the above, the Applicant has tackled the problem of providinga method for performing a time measurement on a data flow transmittedfrom a transmitting node to a receiving node of a communication network,which overcomes the aforesaid drawbacks.

In particular, the Applicant has tackled the problem of providing amethod for performing a time measurement on a data flow transmitted froma transmitting node to a receiving node of a communication network, inwhich the operations to be performed on the data units of the data floware simpler than the ones of the above known solutions and whoseimplementation requires a negligible amount of computation resources atthe nodes of the communication network and a negligible amount ofbandwidth on the links of the communication network.

In the following description and in the claims, the expression“performing a time measurement on a data flow” will designate anoperation of measuring:

-   -   a delay induced on a data unit of the data flow by transmission        between the transmitting node and the receiving node; and/or    -   an interarrival jitter induced on a pair of data units of the        data flow by transmission between the transmitting node and the        receiving node.

The transmitting node and the receiving node may be either physicallyadjacent nodes (i.e. they are connected by a physical link such as e.g.an optical fiber), or they may be connected through intermediate nodes.

Besides, in the following description and in the claims, the expression“marking a data unit” will designate an operation of setting a featureof the data unit to a value suitable for distinguishing the data unitfrom other data units of the same data flow. For instance, the operationof marking a data unit may comprise the operation of setting one or morebits of the data unit (e.g. one bit or a bit sequence of its header) toa predefined value, the operation of setting its frequency or its phaseto a predefined value, and so on.

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a method forperforming a time measurement on a data flow to be transmitted from atransmitting node to a receiving node of a communication network, themethod comprising:

-   a) at the transmitting node:    -   dividing the data flow in first blocks comprising data units        having a feature set to a first value and in second blocks        comprising further data units having the feature set to a second        value, the first blocks alternating in time with the second        blocks; and    -   transmitting the first blocks and the second blocks,        transmitting comprising increasing a first transmission counter        while the data units of the first blocks are transmitted and        setting a first transmission timestamp to a current time when a        predetermined data unit of each of the first blocks is        transmitted;-   b) at the receiving node, receiving the first blocks and the second    blocks, receiving comprising increasing a first reception counter    while the data units the first blocks are received and setting a    first reception timestamp to a further current time when the    predetermined data unit of each of the first blocks is received; and-   c) at a management server cooperating with the communication    network, periodically detecting with a detection period values of    the first transmission counter, the first reception counter, the    first transmission timestamp and the first reception timestamp, and    performing a time measurement on the data flow based on detected    values of the first transmission counter, the first reception    counter, the first transmission timestamp and the first reception    timestamp.

Preferably, dividing comprises marking each data unit of the firstblocks by setting at least one bit of the data unit to the first valueand marking each further data unit of the second blocks by setting atleast one bit of the further data unit to the first value.

Preferably, dividing comprises dividing the data flow in the firstblocks and the second blocks all having a time duration equal to a blockperiod.

Preferably, in periodically detecting with the detection period, theblock period is equal to at least twice the detection period.

Preferably:

-   -   at step a), transmitting further comprises increasing a second        transmission counter while the further data units of the second        blocks are transmitted and setting a second transmission        timestamp to a current time when a predetermined further data        unit of each of the second blocks is transmitted;    -   at step b), receiving further comprises increasing a second        transmission counter while the further data units of the second        blocks are received and setting a second reception timestamp to        a further current time when the predetermined further data unit        of each of the second blocks is received; and    -   at step c), detecting further comprises periodically detecting        values of the second transmission counter, the second reception        counter, the second transmission timestamp and the second        reception timestamp, and performing the time measurement on the        data flow based also on detected values of the second        transmission counter, the second reception counter, the second        transmission timestamp and the second reception timestamp.

Preferably, in step c) performing the time measurement comprises, ateach detection period, comparing the value of the first transmissioncounter, the value of the second transmission counter, the value of thefirst reception counter and the value of the second reception counterdetected at the detection period with one or more previously detectedvalues of the first transmission counter, the second transmissioncounter, the first reception counter and the second reception counterfor determining whether each of the first transmission counter, thesecond transmission counter, the first reception counter and the secondreception counter currently has a constant value or is increasing.

Preferably, at step c) performing the time measurement comprises, ateach detection period:

-   -   if the first transmission counter has a constant value and the        second transmission counter is increasing, setting a measurement        transmission timestamp S(q) equal to the value of the first        transmission timestamp detected at the detection period; and    -   if the first transmission counter is increasing and the second        transmission counter has a constant value, setting the        measurement transmission timestamp S(q) equal to the value of        the second transmission timestamp detected at the detection        period.

Preferably, at step c) performing the time measurement comprises, ateach detection period:

-   -   if the first reception counter has a constant value and the        second reception counter is increasing, setting a measurement        reception timestamp R(q) equal to the value of the first        reception timestamp detected at the detection period; and    -   if the first reception counter is increasing and the second        reception counter has a constant value, setting the measurement        reception timestamp R(q) equal to the value of the second        reception timestamp detected at the detection period.

Preferably, at step c) performing the time measurement comprises, ateach detection period, calculating a delay D(q) as a difference betweenthe measurement reception timestamp R(q) and the measurementtransmission timestamp S(q).

Preferably, at step c) performing the time measurement comprises, ateach detection period, calculating an interarrival jitter J(q) as adifference between the delay D(q) calculated at the detection period anda previous delay D(q-1) calculated during a previous detection period.

Preferably:

-   -   at step a), setting the first transmission timestamp to a        current time is performed each time a first data unit of the        first blocks is transmitted; and    -   at step b), setting the first reception timestamp to a further        current time is performed each time the first data unit of the        first blocks is received.

Preferably:

-   -   at the step a), setting the first transmission timestamp to a        current time is performed also each time an (n*M)+1 data unit of        the first blocks is transmitted; and    -   at the step b), setting the first reception timestamp to a        further current time is performed also each time the (n*M)+1        data unit of the first blocks is received, M being a fixed        integer number and n being an integer index.

Preferably, step c) further comprises periodically calculating a dataloss DL(k) for validating the time measurement.

According to a further aspect, the present invention provides a computerprogram product, loadable in the memory of at least one computer andincluding software code portions for performing the above method stepswhen the product is run on a computer.

According to a further aspect, the present invention provides acommunication network comprising a transmitting node, a receiving nodeand a management server suitable for cooperating with the communicationnetwork, wherein:

-   -   the transmitting node is configured to:        -   divide the data flow in first blocks comprising data units            having a feature set to a first value and in second blocks            comprising further data units having the feature set to a            second value, the first blocks alternating in time with the            second blocks; and        -   transmit the first blocks and the second blocks, the            transmitting comprising increasing a first transmission            counter while the data units of the first blocks are            transmitted and setting a first transmission timestamp to a            current time when a predetermined data unit of each of the            first blocks is transmitted;        -   the receiving node is configured to receive the first blocks            and the second blocks, the receiving comprising increasing a            first reception counter while the data units of the first            blocks are received and setting a first reception timestamp            to a further current time when the predetermined data unit            of each of the first blocks is received; and        -   the management server is configured to periodically detect            values of the first transmission counter, the first            reception counter, the first transmission timestamp and the            first reception timestamp, and perform a time measurement on            the data flow based on detected values of the first            transmission counter, the first reception counter, the first            transmission timestamp and the first reception timestamp.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become clearer from the following detaileddescription, given by way of example and not of limitation, to be readwith reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically shows an exemplary packet-switched network;

FIG. 2 schematically shows a packet's structure, according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the operation of the transmitting node,according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows five time diagrams relating to the operation of thetransmitting node;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the operation of the receiving node, accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows five time diagrams relating to the operation of thereceiving node;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the operation of the management server;

FIG. 8 is a more detailed flow chart of an operation performed by themanagement server, according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 9 shows an application of the method of the invention to thecommunication network of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Herein after, a first preferred embodiment of the method will bedescribed in detail by referring to the particular exemplary case ofperforming a time measurement in a packet-switched network by measuringdelay and/or interarrival jitter of packets (i.e. the data unit is apacket) induced by transmission from a transmitting node to a receivingnode.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an exemplary packet-switched communicationnetwork CN comprising five nodes N1, N2, . . . N5 connected each otheraccording to a partially meshed topology. In particular, the nodes N1and N2 are adjacent nodes connected by the link L1. The number of nodesand the topology of the communication network CN are merely exemplary.The communication network CN may be for instance an Ethernet network, anInternet network, or any other type of packet-switched communicationnetwork.

The communication network CN is suitable for cooperating with amanagement server MS. In FIG. 1, the management server MS is connectedto the node N4. This is merely exemplary, since the management server MSmay be connected to the communication network CN through any of itsnodes N1, N2, . . . , N5. Alternatively, the management server MS may beintegrated in any of the nodes N1, N2, . . . , N5 of the communicationnetwork CN. The role of the management server MS will be described indetail herein after.

The nodes N1, N2, . . . , N5 of the communication network CN exchangetraffic in the form of packet flows. By way of example, herein afteronly the packet flow PF transmitted from the node N1 (herein aftertermed “transmitting node”) to the node N2 (herein after termed“receiving node”) through the link L1 will be considered. Thetransmitting node N1 may be either the source node of the packet flow PFor an intermediate node of the path from the source node to thedestination node. Similarly, the receiving node N2 may be either thedestination node of the packet flow PF or an intermediate node of thepath from the source node to the destination node.

The packet flow PF comprises a plurality of packets Pki. As shown inFIG. 2, each packet Pki has a header Hi and a payload Pi. As mentionedabove, the payload Pi comprises a portion of the traffic to betransmitted from the source node to the destination node. Besides,preferably, the header Hi comprises information for routing the packetPki, such as the source node address (i.e. the address of thetransmitting node N1, if it is the source node) and the destination nodeaddress (i.e. the address of the receiving node N2, if it is thedestination node). According to embodiments of the present invention,the header Hi of each packet Pi further comprises a bit bi. Preferably,the bit bi is used by the transmitting node N1 for marking the packetPki, thus allowing the receiving node N2 to perform a time measurementon the packet flow PF, as it will be described in detail herein after.

According to embodiments of the present invention, upon transmission ofthe packets Pki of the packet flow PF to the receiving node N2 along thelink L1, the transmitting node N1 preferably marks the packets Pki fordividing the packet flow PF in blocks, each block comprising a number ofpackets Pki. The blocks may be all of a same length (i.e. they may allcomprise a same number of packets Pki), or they may have differentlengths.

The transmitting node N1 preferably uses the bit bi of the header Hi ofeach packet Pki for marking the packets Pki. In particular, since thebit bi may assume only two values (1 and 0), the transmitting node N1marks the packets Pki by setting the value of the bit bi of the variouspackets Pki according to the following rules:

-   i. packets Pki included in a same block have the bit bi with a same    value; and-   ii. packets Pki included in contiguous blocks have the bit bi with    different values.

The bit bi may be for instance a bit to which the protocol according towhich the packet Pki is formatted has not assigned a specific functionyet. Alternatively, the bit bi may be a bit of a field having otheruses, such as for instance a bit of the priority field in IP packets, ora bit of the label field in MPLS packets.

Therefore, for instance, assuming that N is the number of packets Pkifor each block, the transmitting node N1 may form a first block bysetting the bit bi of N consecutive packets Pki equal to 1, then form asecond block by setting the bit bi of the N successive packets Pki equalto 0, then form a third block by setting the bit bi of the N successivepackets Pki equal to 1, then form a fourth block by setting the bit biof the N successive packets Pki equal to 0, and so on.

The packet flow PF is then divided in a sequence of blocks, whereinblocks including packets Pki marked by the bit bi equal to 1 alternatewith blocks including packets Pki marked by the bit bi equal to 0.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the transmitting nodeN1 marks the various packets Pki, not according to the number of packetsPki to be included in each block, but according to a timer, as it willbe described herein after by referring to the flow chart of FIG. 3.

With reference to FIG. 3, when the transmitting node N1 determines thata time measurement relative to the packet flow PF has to be started, itpreferably sets a block period Tb (step 301). During step 301, the blockperiod Tb may be automatically set by the transmitting node N1 accordingto predefined criteria, such as the speed of the port through which thepacket flow PF is transmitted, the hour of the day, and the availableresources at the transmitting node N1. Alternatively, the block periodTb may be automatically set by the management server MS and transmittedto the transmitting node N1 in a management message (e.g. a managementmessage commanding the transmitting node N1 to start the operationsallowing the time measurement). Alternatively, the block period Tb maybe manually input at the management server MS by an operator responsibleof managing the communication network CN, e.g. by means of a graphicuser interface (not shown in FIG. 1) of the management server MS. Theblock period may be for instance 5 minutes.

Then, preferably, the transmitting node N1 initialises, a first counterC1, a second counter C0, a first transmission timestamp S1 and a secondtransmission timestamp S0 at the value 0 (step 302).

Then, preferably, the transmitting node N1 starts a timer expiring aftera block period Tb (step 303), thus starting a first block period T1 (seealso FIG. 4), and initialises an index m at the value 0 (step 304).While the timer is not expired (i.e. during the first block period T1),each time the transmitting node N1 has to transmit a packet Pki of thepacket flow PF, it marks it by setting its bit bi to a first value,namely 1 (step 305). Besides, each time the transmitting node N1 setsthe bit bi of a packet Pki equal to 1, it increases by one the value ofthe first counter C1 (step 306). Then, the transmitting node N1preferably checks whether the index m is equal to 0 (step 307). In theaffirmative, the transmitting node N1 preferably sets the firsttransmission timestamp S1 equal to the current time indicated by a localclock of the transmitting node N1 (step 308), increases the index m byone (step 309) and transmits the packet Pki (step 309 a). In thenegative, the transmitting node N1 preferably increases the index m byone (step 309) and transmits the packet Pki (step 309 a). Therefore, thefirst transmission timestamp S1 is set to the current time only for thepacket transmitted first during the first block period T1, while it iskept constant upon transmission of all the subsequent packets during thefirst block period T1.

Therefore, during the first block period T1, all the packets Pkitransmitted by the transmitting node N1 form a first block B1 (shown inFIG. 4) and are marked by their bit bi set to 1 (in FIG. 4, thereference “b(PF)” indicates the values of the bit bi for the packets Pkiof the packet flow PF), the first transmission timestamp S1 as set atstep 308 indicating the transmission time of the first packet of thefirst block B1. Besides, as also shown in FIG. 4, during the first blockperiod T1 the value of the first counter C1 increases, and at the end ofthe first block period T1 is equal to the number of packets Pki formingthe first block B1. Besides, as also shown in FIG. 4, during the firstblock period T1 the second counter C0 and the second transmissiontimestamp S0 remain equal to 0.

When the timer expires, the transmitting node N1 preferably restarts it(step 310), thus starting a second block period T2 (see also FIG. 3),and sets again the index m at the value 0 (step 311).

While the timer is not expired (i.e. during the second block period T2),each time the transmitting node N1 has to transmit a packet Pki of thepacket flow PF, it marks it by setting its bit bi to a second value,namely 0 (step 312). Besides, each time the transmitting node N1 setsthe bit bi of a packet Pki equal to 0, it increases by one the value ofthe second counter C0 (step 313). Then, the transmitting node N1preferable checks whether the index m is equal to 0 (step 314). In theaffirmative, the transmitting node N1 preferably sets the secondtransmission timestamp S0 equal to the current time indicated by a localclock of the transmitting node N1 (step 315), increases the index m byone (step 316) and transmits the packet Pki (step 316 a). In thenegative, the transmitting node N1 preferably increases the index m byone (step 316) and transmits the packet Pki (step 316 a). Therefore, thesecond transmission timestamp S2 is set to the current time only for thepacket transmitted first during the second block period T2, while it iskept constant upon transmission of all the subsequent packets during thesecond block period T2.

Therefore, during the second block period T2, all the packets Pkitransmitted by the transmitting node N1 form a second block B2 (shown inFIG. 4) and are marked with their bit bi set to 0 (as shown in FIG. 4)the second transmission timestamp S2 as set at step 315 indicating thetransmission time of the first packet of the second block B2. Besides,as also shown in FIG. 4, during the second block period T2 the value ofthe second counter C0 increases, and at the end of the second blockperiod T2 is equal to the number of packets Pki forming the second blockB2. Besides, as also shown in FIG. 4, during the second block period T2the first counter C1 remains equal to the value reached at the end ofthe first block period T1, while the first transmission timestamp S1remains equal to the value set during the first time period T1.

Then, the transmitting node N1 preferably repeats the above describedsteps 305-309 thereby forming, during a third block period T3, a thirdblock B3 comprising packets Pki having their bits bi set to 1, andthereby setting the first transmission timestamp S1 to a valueindicating the transmission time of the first packet of the third blockB3. Besides, as also shown in FIG. 4, during the third block period T3the value of the first counter C1 further increases, and at the end ofthe third block period T3 is equal to the overall number of packets Pkiforming the first block B1 and the third block B3. Besides, as alsoshown in FIG. 4, during the third block period T3 the second counter C0remain equal to the value reached during the second block period T2,while the second transmission timestamp S0 remains equal to the valueset during the second time period T2.

Then, the transmitting node N1 preferably repeats the above describedsteps 311-316 thereby forming, during a fourth block period T4, a fourthblock B4 comprising packets Pki having their bits bi set to 0, andthereby setting the second transmission timestamp S0 to a valueindicating the transmission time of the first packet of the fourth blockB4. Besides, as also shown in FIG. 4, during the fourth block period T4the value of the second counter C0 further increases, and at the end ofthe fourth block period T4 is equal to the overall number of packets Pkiforming the second block B2 and the fourth block B4. Besides, as alsoshown in FIG. 4, during the fourth block period T4 the first counter C1remains equal to the value reached at the end of the third block periodT3, while the first transmission timestamp S1 remains equal to the valueset during the third time period T3.

Preferably, the transmitting node N1 cyclically repeats steps 305-309and steps 312-316, thereby generating further blocks comprising,alternatively, packets Pki marked by 1 and packets Pki marked by 0. Suchblocks are not shown in FIG. 4 for simplicity.

It has to be noticed that packets formed according to the abovedescribed flow chart of FIG. 3 within a same time measurement sessionhave all substantially a same duration, but they may include differentnumbers of packets Pki. Indeed, the number of packets Pki forming agiven block depends on the number of packets actually transmitted by thetransmitting node Nb during the block period corresponding to the block.For instance, during low-traffic hours, the blocks comprise a lowernumber of packets that during high-traffic hours. For the same reason,the first packet Pki of each block (for which the first and secondtransmission timestamps are set during steps 308 and 315) is notnecessarily transmitted at the beginning of the corresponding blockperiod.

Advantageously, the above disclosed operation of the transmitting nodeN1 is very simple. The transmitting node N1 simply has to mark eachpacket Pki to be transmitted for forming the blocks, to increase theproper counter and to set the proper transmission timestamp upontransmission of the first packet of each block. All these operations arevery simple, and may advantageously be implemented by software modulesthat are typically available at the nodes of a current packet-switchednetwork.

By referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the packet flow PF divided in blocksB1, B2, B3, B4, . . . is transmitted to the receiving node N2, thatreceives a further packet flow PF′ divided in corresponding furtherblocks B1′, B2′, B3′, B4′. Each further block B1′, B2′, B3′, B4′, . . .differs from the corresponding block B1, B2, B3, B4, . . . in that oneor more packets Pki originally comprised in the block have been lostduring transmission on the link L1, and in that the packets exhibitdelay and/or interarrival jitter.

Before starting receiving the further blocks B1′, B2′, B3′, B4′, thereceiving node N2 preferably initialises a third counter C′1, a fourthcounter C′0, a first reception timestamp R1 and a second receptiontimestamp R0 at the value 0 (step 501). Step 501 may be triggered e.g.by a management message transmitted from the management server MS andcommanding the receiving node N2 to start a time measurement for thepacket flow PF.

Then, the receiving node N2 listens for possible packets Pki receivedfrom the transmitting node N1 on the link L1. Each time a packet Pki isreceived (step 502), the receiving node N2 preferably checks itsmarking, i.e. it checks the value of its bit bi (step 503).

If the bit bi is equal to 1, the receiving node N2 preferably increasesby one the third counter C′1 (step 504). Then, the receiving node N2preferably checks whether the previously received packet has the samemarking as the current packet Pki (step 505). In the affirmative, thereceiving node N2 determines that the packet Pki is not the first packetof a block, and preferably does not perform any other action. In thenegative, the receiving node N2 determines that the packet Pki is thefirst packet of a block, and preferably sets the first receptiontimestamp R1 equal to the current time indicated by a local clock of thereceiving node N2 (step 506).

If the bit bi is equal to 0, the receiving node N2 preferably increasesby one the fourth counter C′0 (step 507). Then, the receiving node N2preferably checks whether the previously received packet has the samemarking as the current packet Pki (step 508). In the affirmative, thereceiving node N2 determines that the packet Pki is not the first packetof a block, and preferably does not perform any other action. In thenegative, the receiving node N2 determines that the packet Pki is thefirst packet of a block, and preferably sets the second receptiontimestamp R0 equal to the current time indicated by a local clock of thereceiving node N2 (step 509).

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, while the receiving node N2 is receivingpackets Pki of the blocks B′1, B′3, . . . corresponding to the blocksB1, B3, . . . of FIG. 4, the third counter C′1 is increased and thefirst reception timestamp R1 is set to the reception time of the firstpacket of the blocks B′1, B′3, . . . , while the fourth counter C0 andthe second reception timestamp R0 are fixed. On the other hand, whilethe receiving node N2 is receiving packets Pki of the blocks B2′, B′4, .. . corresponding to the blocks B2, B4, . . . of FIG. 4, the fourthcounter C0 is increased and the second reception timestamp R0 is set tothe reception time of the first packet of the blocks B′2, B′4, . . . ,while the third counter C1 and the first reception timestamp R1 arefixed.

Advantageously, also the operation of the receiving node N2 is verysimple. The receiving node N2 simply has to read the marking of eachreceived packet Pki, to increase the proper counter and to set theproper reception timestamp upon reception of the first packet of eachblock. All these operations are very simple, and may advantageously beimplemented by software modules that are typically available at thenodes of a current packet-switched network.

Therefore, while the packet flow PF is being transmitted from thetransmitting node N1 to the receiving node N2, the transmitting node N1sets the bits bi for forming the above blocks, correspondingly increasesthe counters C1 and C0 and sets the transmission timestamps S1, S0,while the receiving block N2 reads the bits bi, correspondinglyincreases the counters C′1 and C′0 and sets the reception timestamps R1,R0.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the management serverMS periodically detects the values of the counters C1 and C0 and of thetransmission timestamps S1 and S0 at the transmitting node N1 and thevalues of the counters C′1 and C0 and of the reception timestamps R1, R0at the receiver node N2, and uses these values for performing a timemeasurement on the packet flow PF.

In particular, by referring FIG. 7, the management server MS preferablysets a detection period Td (step 71), i.e. a period for cyclicallydetecting the values of the counters C1, C0, C′1 and C0 and of thetimestamps S1, S0, R1, R0. The criteria to set the detection period Tdmay be a time limit depending on the implementation of sampling andprocessing mechanisms, or could be a specific desired detection periodTd higher than such time limit. Preferably, during step 71 the blockperiod Tb is calculated so that, in every block period Tb, the values ofthe counters C1, C0, C′1 and C0 and of the timestamps S1, S0, R0, R0 aredetected at least twice. This advantageously allows the managementserver MS to determine, for each block period, which counter isincreasing and which one has a fixed value.

For instance, the block period Tb may be calculated according to thefollowing formula:

Tb>2*Td,   [3]

For instance, in case the detection period Td is 1 minute, equation [3]results in a block period Tb of more than 2 minutes, preferably at least3 or more minutes. Preferably, the block period Tb is calculatedaccording to the following formula:

Tb>=3*Tb,   [4]

For instance, in case the detection period Td is 1 minute, equation [4]results in a block period Tb higher than or equal to 3 minutes.

After setting the detection period Td, the management server MSpreferably starts a timer counting the detection period Td (step 72)and, each time the timer expires, detects the values of the firstcounter C1, the second counter C0, the first transmission timestamp S1and the second transmission timestamp S0 at the transmitting node N1,and detects the values of the third counter C′1, the fourth counter C′0,the first reception timestamp R1 and the second reception timestamp R0at the receiving node N2 (step 73). Preferably, the management server MSperforms step 703 by transmitting to the transmitting node N1 a suitablemanagement message requesting the current values of the counters C1 andC0 and of the transmission timestamps S1 and S0, and by transmitting tothe receiving node N2 a suitable management message requesting thecurrent values of the counters C′1 and C0 and of the receptiontimestamps R1 and R0.

Then, after detecting the values of the counters C1, C0, C′1 and C′0 andof the timestamps S1, S0, R1 and R0, the management server MS preferablyuses such values for calculating a delay D and/or or an interarrivaljitter J (step 74)

Steps 73 and 74 are periodically repeated at every detection period Td.Therefore, at a given detection period Td (e.g. the k-th detectionperiod) the management server MS detects values C1(k), C0(k), C′1(k),C′0(k), S1(k), S0(k), R1(k) and R0(k), k being an integer indexcorresponding to the detection period.

Table I herein below shows a numerical example of the values C1(k),C0(k), C′1(k), C′0(k), S1(k), S0(k), R1(k) and R0(k) detected by themanagement server MS, assuming that the block period Tb is 5 minutes andthe detection period Td is 2 minutes. For simplicity, Table I only showsthe first 9 detected values. It is assumed that:

-   -   during the first block period T1, 277 packets are transmitted,        the first packet being transmitted at a transmission time (as        provided by the local clock of the transmitting node N1) equal        to 00.03;    -   during the second block period T2, 262 packets are transmitted,        the first packet being transmitted at a transmission time (as        provided by the local clock of the transmitting node N1) equal        to 05.02;    -   during the third block period T3, 673 packets are transmitted,        the first packet being transmitted at a transmission time (as        provided by the local clock of the transmitting node N1) equal        to 10.01; and    -   during the fourth block period T4, the first packet is        transmitted at a transmission time (as provided by the local        clock of the transmitting node N1) equal to 15.02.

The detection times and the values of the timestamps are expressed inminutes and seconds.

TABLE I de- tec- tion N1 N2 k time C1(k) S1(k) C0(k) S0(k) C′1(k) R1(k)C′0(k) R0(k) 1 00.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 02.00 112 00.03 0 0 110 00.04 0 03 04.00 234 00.03 0 0 237 00.04 0 0 4 06.00 277 00.03 103 05.02 27700.04 101 05.04 5 08.00 277 00.03 212 05.02 277 00.04 210 05.04 6 10.00277 00.03 259 05.02 277 00.04 256 05.04 7 12.00 403 10.01 262 05.02 40110.03 261 05.04 8 14.00 827 10.01 262 05.02 819 10.03 261 05.04 9 16.00950 10.01 380 15.02 819 10.03 261 05.04

Herein after, by referring to FIG. 8, step 74 of calculating the delay Dand/or the interarrival jitter J will be described in detail, byreferring to a generic k-th detection period.

After step 73, the management system MS preferably compares the valuesC1(k) and C0(k) detected during the current detection period (i.e. thek-th detection period) with the values C1(k-1) and C0(k-1),respectively, detected during a previous detection period (sub-step741). According to preferred embodiments not shown in the drawings, themanagement server MS compares C1(k) and C0(k) not only with the valuesof C1 and C0 detected during the previous detection period, but alsowith the values of C1 and C0 detected during still preceding detectionperiods. This advantageously allows making the time measurement morereliable in case of low traffic between the nodes N1 and N2. Indeed, inthis case, two consecutively detected values of a counter (e.g. C1) maybe constant because in that block period Tb the transmitting node N1 isnot transmitting any packet at all, and not because the transmittingnode N1 is transmitting packets Pki marked by their bit bi equal to 0.

Then, the management system MS preferably determines whether the valueC1(k) is equal to the value C1(k-1) and whether the value C0(k) is equalto the value C0(k-1) (sub-step 742).

Firstly, it is assumed that the value C1(k) is equal to the valueC1(k-1), while the value of C0(k) is different from the value C0(k-1).By referring to Table I, this condition is fulfilled e.g. for k=5. Inthis case, the management server MS realizes that the currently detectedvalues C1(k) and C0(k) refer to a block period Tb wherein the firstcounter C1 has a fixed value, while the second counter C0 is increasing(see e.g. the second block period T2 and the fourth block period T4 ofFIG. 4), since the currently transmitted packets Pki are marked by theirbit bi equal to 0. The management server MS then preferably sets ameasurement transmission timestamp S(q) equal to the currently detectedvalue S1(k) of the first transmission timestamp (sub-step 743).

Otherwise, if the value C1(k) is different from the value C1(k-1), whilethe value of C0(k) is equal to the value C0(k-1), the management serverMS realizes that the currently detected values C1(k) and C0(k) refer toa block period Tb wherein the second counter C0 has a fixed value, whilethe first counter C1 is increasing (see e.g. the first block period T1and the third block period T3 of FIG. 4), since the currentlytransmitted packets Pki are marked by their bit bi equal to 1. Byreferring to Table I, this condition is fulfilled e.g. for k=8. Themanagement server MS then preferably sets the measurement transmissiontimestamp S(q) equal to the currently detected value S0(k) of the secondtransmission timestamp (sub-step 744).

Substantially in parallel to sub-steps 741-744, the management system MSpreferably compares the values C′1(k) and C′0(k) detected during thecurrent detection period (i.e. the k-th detection period) with thevalues C′1(k-1) and C′0(k-1), respectively, detected during a previousdetection period (sub-step 741′). According to preferred embodiments notshown in the drawings, the management server MS compares C1(k) andC′0(k) not only with the values of C′1 and C′0 detected during theprevious detection period, but also with the values of C′1 and C0′0detected during still preceding detection periods. This advantageouslyallows making the time measurement more reliable in case of low trafficbetween the nodes N1 and N2. Indeed, in this case, two consecutivelydetected values of a counter (e.g. C′1) may be constant because in thatblock period the receiving node N2 is not receiving any packet at all,and not because the receiving node N2 is receiving packets Pki marked bytheir bit bi equal to 0.

Then, the management system MS preferably determines whether the valueC′1(k) is equal to the value C′1(k-1) and whether the value C′0(k) isequal to the value C′0(k-1) (sub-step 742′).

Firstly, it is assumed that the value C′1(k) is equal to the valueC′1(k-1), while the value of C′0(k) is different from the valueC′0(k-1). By referring to Table I, this condition is fulfilled e.g. fork=5. In this case, the management server MS realizes that the thirdcounter C′1 is currently having a fixed value while the fourth counterC′0 is increasing, since the currently received packets Pki are markedby their bit bi equal to 0. The management server MS then preferablysets a measurement reception timestamp R(q) equal to the currentlydetected value R1(k) of the first transmission timestamp (sub-step743′).

Otherwise, if the value C′1(k) is different from the value C′1(k-1),while the value of C′0(k) is equal to the value C′0(k-1), the managementserver MS realizes that the fourth counter C′0 is currently having afixed value while the third counter C′1 is increasing, since thecurrently transmitted packets Pki are marked by their bit bi equal to 1.By referring to Table I, this condition is fulfilled e.g. for k=8. Themanagement server MS then preferably sets the measurement receptiontimestamp R(q) equal to the currently detected value R0(k) of the secondreception timestamp (sub-step 744′).

The management server MS then preferably calculates the delay D(q) asthe difference between the measurement reception timestamp R(q) and themeasurement transmission timestamp S(q) (sub-step 745). The delay D(k)calculated at sub-step 745 substantially is the delay induced bypropagation from the transmitting node N1 to the receiving node N2 onthe first packet of the block transmitted during the preceding blockperiod. For instance, by referring again to the above Table I, in casek=5 the delay D(1)=R1(5)−S1(5)=00.04-00.03=00.01 is the delay undergoneby the first packet of the block transmitted during the first blockperiod T1. Similarly, in case k=9 the delayD(2)=R0(8)−S0(8)=05.04-05.02=00.02 is the delay undergone by the firstpacket of the block transmitted during the second block period T2.Further, the management server MS preferably calculates the interarrivaljitter J(q) as the difference between the delay D(q) calculated at step745 and a delay D(q-1) calculated during a previous iteration of step475 applied to values C1(k), C0(k), C′1(k), C′0(k), S1(k), S0(k), R1(k)and R0(k) previously detected (sub-step 746). The interarrival jitterJ(q) calculated at step 746 substantially is the interarrival jitterinduced by propagation from the transmitting node N1 to the receivingnode N2 between the first packet of the block transmitted during thepreceding block period and the first packet of the block transmittedduring the still preceding block period. For instance, by referringagain to the above Table I, in case k=8 the interarrival jitterJ(2)=D(2)−D(1)=00.02-00.01=−00.01 is the interarrival jitter between thefirst packet of the block transmitted during the second block period T2and the first packet of the block transmitted during the first blockperiod T1.

It should be noticed that, if the first packet of a block is lost duringtransmission from the transmitting node N1 to the receiving node N2,this impairs the accuracy of delay and interarrival jitter measurementreferred to that block, since the reception timestamp generated at thereceiving node is set to the current time provided by the local clockupon reception not of the first packet, but of a successive packet ofthat block. However, this does not impair the accuracy of delay andinterarrival jitter measurements referred to the following blocks.Indeed, loss of the first packet (or of any other packet) in a blockdoes not prevent the receiving node from recognizing the first packet ofthe successive block, and from properly setting the receiving timestampfor that block. From then on, the delay and interarrival jittermeasurement will be then immune from inaccuracy due to loss of the firstpacket in the previous block.

If at sub-step 742 the management server MS determines that the valueC1(k) is different from the value C1(k-1) and the value C0(k) isdifferent from the value C0(k-1) and/or at step sub-742′ the managementserver MS determines that the value C′1(k) is different from the valueC′1(k-1) and the value C′0(k) is different from the value C′0(k-1), themanagement server MS is not able to determine whether the currentlytransmitted packets Pki are marked by 1 or 0. By referring to Table I,this condition is fulfilled e.g. for k=4 and k=7. In this case, themanagement server MS preferably does not perform any measurement ofdelay and interarrival jitter, and after a detection period Tdpreferably detects successive values of C1, C0, S1, S0, C ′1, C′0, R1,R0 (step 72 of the flow chart of FIG. 7).

Besides, if at sub-step 742 the management server MS determines that thevalue C1(k) is equal to the value C1(k-1) and the value C0(k) is equalto the value C0(k-1) and/or at sub-step 742′ the management server MSdetermines that the value C′1(k) is equal to the value C′1(k-1) and thevalue C′0(k) is equal to the value C′0(k-1 ), the management server MSdetermines that no packets are currently transmitted from N1 to N2. Alsoin this case, the management server MS preferably does not perform anymeasurement of delay and interarrival jitter, and after a detectionperiod Td preferably detects successive values of C1, C0, S1, S0, C′1,C′0, R1, R0 (step 72 of the flow chart of FIG. 7). This option is notshown in FIG. 8 for simplicity.

The sub-step of FIG. 8 are preferably applied each time new valuesC1(k), C0(k), C′1(k), C′0(k), S1(k), S0(k), R1(k) and R0(k) aredetected. However, it can be noticed that delay and interarrival jitterare not calculated for all the values of k. In particular, if the valueC1(k) is different from the value C1(k-1) and the value of C0(k) isdifferent from the value C0(k-1), the management server MS does notcalculate any delay or interarrival jitter. By referring to Table I, itcan be noticed that a single delay D and a single jitter J arecalculated for each block period. In other words, the above methodallows periodically measuring the delay D and interarrival jitter J ofthe packet flow PF with a measurement period substantially equal to theblock period Tb, since it basically measures the delay D and jitter Jonly based on timestamps relating to the first packet of each block.

The above method has a number of advantages.

In particular, processing of each packet is advantageously very simplein comparison to the known solutions. Instead of inserting atransmission timestamp in the header of each packet, the above methodmerely requires marking each packet with a single bit equal to 0 and 1thereby dividing the packet flow into alternate blocks with a certainblock period, and generating a transmission timestamp only for the firstpacket of each block. The transmission timestamp is not transmittedtogether with the packets, since marking advantageously allows easilyrecognizing the first packet of each block at the receiving node, andgenerating a corresponding reception timestamp. On the other hand, thecounters advantageously allow the management server to properly handlethe values of the timestamps detected at the transmission node andreceiving node.

At the transmitting node, forming blocks merely requires implementing atimer counting the block period Tb and changing the value of the bit biof the packets Pki to be transmitted each time the timer expires. Thismechanism is very simple and inexpensive, and can be implemented also onhigh speed ports without the need of using any buffer or complex logics.

Moreover, the time accuracy required by the operation of forming theblocks by suitably marking the packets Pki at the transmitting node isquite low. Indeed, even if the timer counting the block period Tb has arelative high tolerance, or even if there is a delay between timerexpiration and change of value of the bit bi, the accuracy of the finalresult (i.e. the delay and interarrival jitter) is not affected. Indeed,possible oscillations of the block period merely affect the number ofpackets included in the blocks. The number of packets Pki included ineach block however is not fixed, and it does not affect the resultingvalues of delay and interarrival jitter.

Further, the operation of setting the transmission timestamps to thecurrent time for the first packet of each block is very simple, and canbe performed by a simple software module. Further, this operation isperformed once every block period Tb, that may be of a few minutes (e.g.5 minutes). Accordingly, also this operation requires a small amount ofcomputation resources, since it has to be iterated with a quite longperiod.

Moreover, the method is advantageously simple to implement also at themanagement server MS. Indeed, the management server MS merely has todetect the values of the counters C1, C0, C′1 and C′0 and of thetimestamps S1, S0, R1 and R0 (and to perform very simple operations,such as differences of integer numbers) at least twice for each blockperiod Tb. However, since the block period Tb may be of a few minutes(e.g. 5 minutes), such an operation requires a small amount ofcomputation resources, since it has to be iterated with a quite longperiod (2 minutes, in case the block period is 5 minutes).

Moreover, advantageously, the receiving node N2 and management server MSmay advantageously ignore the block period Tb used at the transmittingnode N1. Indeed, the receiving node N2 merely has to increases thecounters C′1 and C′0 and generate the reception timestamps R1 and R0 inan asynchronous way, according to the values of the bit bi of thereceived packets Pki. As to the management server MS, it merely uses theblock period Tb for calculating the detection period Td in order toensure that the values of the counters and timestamps are detected twicefor every block period. After calculating the detection period, thedetection of the counter and timestamp values requires nosynchronization with the transmitting node N1, but simply operatesaccording to the timer implemented at the management server and countingthe detection period Td.

This advantageously allows implementing the operations shown in FIGS. 7and 8 at any server cooperating with the communication network CN, suchas for instance the server responsible of performing managementoperations (alarm monitoring, performance monitoring, network nodesconfiguration, and so on) upon the network nodes of the communicationnetwork CN.

In case only the interarrival jitter has to be measured, nosynchronization is required between the transmitting node and thereceiving node. Indeed, the transmission and reception timestamps aregenerated according to the local clocks of the transmitting andreceiving node, respectively. Such local clocks should havesubstantially the same frequency, but they can be not synchronized, i.e.they can indicated different absolute times. Such difference isadvantageously erased when the above equation [2] is applied formeasuring the interarrival jitter.

In the above description, it has been assumed that each block has a sameduration equal to the block period Tb. However, according toadvantageous variants not shown in the drawings, alternating blocks mayhave different durations. For instance, the blocks comprising packetsmarked with 1 may have a first duration Tb1, while the blocks comprisingpackets marked with 0 may have a second duration Tb0 different from thefirst duration Tb1.

Further, it has been assumed that all packets are marked. According toadvantageous variants not shown in the drawings, for instance, onlypackets belonging to even blocks (or odd blocks) may be marked.According to these variants, the transmission and reception timestampsare preferably generated only for the first packet of blocks comprisingmarked packets. According to these variants, the measurement period ofdelay and interarrival jitter is then equal to twice a single blockperiod Tb.

As mentioned above, according to the first embodiment (where all blockscomprise marked packets and the duration of all the blocks is equal tothe block period Tb), the measurement period of delay and jitter issubstantially equal to the block period Tb. For decreasing themeasurement period, the block period Tb may be suitably decreased.Alternatively, according to a second embodiment, a transmissiontimestamp and a reception timestamp may be provided not only for thefirst packet of each block, but also for predefined subsequent packetsof each block.

More particularly, according to this second embodiment, a number M isset, which is preferably an integer number than can be fixed a priori bythe network operator. M may be for instance equal to 100.

With reference to FIG. 3, according to this second embodiment, duringthe first time period T1, instead of checking whether the index m isequal to 1 (step 307), according to this second embodiment thetransmitting node N1 preferably checks whether m mod N (i.e. theremainder of m divided by M) is equal to 0. In the affirmative, thetransmitting node N1 sets the first transmission timestamp S1 to thecurrent time provided by the local clock of the transmitting node N1(step 308). Therefore, according to this second embodiment the firsttransmission timestamp S1 is set not only for the first packet of thefirst block B1, but also for the packets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1, etc. of thefirst block B1. Therefore, if N is the overall number of packetstransmitted during the first time period T1, the integer part of (N/M)is the number of different values that the first transmission timestampS1 assumes during the first block period T1.

Similarly, during the second time period T2, instead of checking whetherthe index m is equal to 1 (step 314), according to this secondembodiment the transmitting node N1 preferably checks whether m mod N(i.e. the remainder of m divided by M) is equal to 0. In theaffirmative, the transmitting node N1 sets the second transmissiontimestamp S0 to the current time provided by the local clock of thetransmitting node N1 (step 315). Therefore, the second transmissiontimestamp S0 is set not only for the first packet of the second blockB2, but also for the packets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1, etc. of the second blockB2. Again, if N is the overall number of packets transmitted in thesecond time period T2, the integer part of (N/M) is the number ofdifferent values that the second transmission timestamp S0 assumedduring the second block period T2.

The same preferably applies to the subsequent block periods.

With reference now to FIG. 5, according to this second embodiment, if atstep 505 the receiving node N2 determines that the received packetmarked by 1 is the first packet of a block, it preferably sets the firstreception timestamp R1 to the current time provided by the local clockof the receiving node N2. Upon reception of a successive packet havingthe same marking, the receiving node N2 preferably checks whether it isthe packet M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1, etc. of the block. In the affirmative, thereceiving node N2 preferably sets the first reception timestamp R1 tothe current time provided by the local clock of the receiving node N2.Therefore, according to this second embodiment, the first receptiontimestamp R1 is set not only for the first packet of the block, but alsofor the packets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1, etc. of the block.

Similarly, according to this second embodiment, if at step 508 thereceiving node N2 determines that the received packet marked by 0 is thefirst packet of a block, it preferably sets the second receptiontimestamp R0 to the current time provided by the local clock of thereceiving node N2. Upon reception of a successive packet having the samemarking, the receiving node preferably checks whether it is packet M+1,2M+1, 3M+1, etc. of the block. In the affirmative, the receiving node N2preferably sets the second reception timestamp R0 to the current timeprovided by the local clock of the receiving node N2. Therefore,according to this second embodiment, the second reception timestamp R0is set not only for the first packet of the block, but also for thepackets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1, etc. of the block.

The operation of the management server MS according to this secondembodiment is preferably similar to the one shown in FIG. 7. In brief,the management server MS determines a detection period Td (step 71) anddetects the values C1(k), C0(k), S1(k), S0(k), C′1(k), C′0(k), R1(k) andR0(k) once for each detection period Td. Then, the management server MSpreferably uses the detected values C1(k), C0(k), S1(k), S0(k), C′1(k),C′0(k), R1(k) and R0(k) for calculating delay D and jitter J.

By referring now to FIG. 8, according to this second embodiment, eachtime the management server MS detects the values C1(k), C0(k), S1(k),S0(k), C′1(k), C′0(k), R1(k) and R0(k) and determines that C1(k)=C1(k-1)and C′1(k)=C′1(k-1) while C0(k)<>C0(k-1) and C′0(k)<>C′0(k-1), itpreferably realizes that the first counter C1 and the third counter C′1have a fixed value while the second counter C0 and the fourth counterC′0 are increasing, since the packets Pki currently transmitted by N1and received by N2 are marked by their bit bi equal to 0. Then, themanagement server MS preferably calculates a data loss DL(k) as thedifference between the currently detected value C1(k) of the firstcounter C1 and the currently detected value C′1(k) of the third counterC′1.

It has to be noticed that, although the value of DL(k) is calculated ata block period during which packets Pki with their bit bi at the value 0are transmitted (i.e. the second block period T2 of FIG. 4), it refersto the previous block period, i.e. to a block period during whichpackets Pki marked by their bit bi equal to 1 are transmitted.

Similarly, according to this second embodiment, each time the managementserver MS detects the values C1(k), C0(k), S1(k), S0(k), C′1(k), C′0(k),R1(k) and R0(k) and determines that C0(k)=C0(k 1) and C′0(k)=C′0(k 1)while C1(k)<>C1(k-1) and C′1(k)<>C1(k-1), it preferably realizes thatthe second counter C0 and the fourth counter C′0 have a fixed value,while the first counter C1 and the third counter C′1 are increasing,since the packets Pki currently transmitted by N1 and received by N2 aremarked by their bit bi equal to 1. The management server MS thencalculates the data loss DL(k) as the difference between the currentlydetected value C0(k) of the second counter C0 and the currently detectedvalue C′0(k) of the fourth counter C′0.

It has to be noticed that, although the value of DL(k) is calculated ata block period during which packets Pki with their bit bi at the value 1are transmitted (i.e. the third block period T3 of FIG. 4), it refers tothe previous block period, i.e. to a block period during which packetsPki marked by their bit bi equal to 0 are transmitted.

Once the value DL(k) of the data loss has been calculated, themanagement server MS preferably checks whether DL(k) is equal to zero.

In the affirmative, the management server MS preferably determines thatno data loss occurred in the block transmitted during the previous blockperiod, and accordingly calculates delay and interarrival jitter asdescribed above.

In the negative, the management server MS preferably determines that adata loss occurred in the block transmitted during the previous blockperiod. Therefore, one or more of the packets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1, etc. ofthe transmitted block may not correspond to the packets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1,etc. of the corresponding received block. One or more of the receptiontimestamps generated at the receiving node N2 may then be not reliable,since they may indicate the reception time of packets other than thepackets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1, etc. In that case, according to this secondembodiment, the management server MS determines that no reliabledetermination of the delay and interarrival jitter may be performed onthat block.

Accordingly, the management server MS preferably does not calculatedelay and interarrival jitter, and detects the next values of C1, C0,C′1, C′0, S1, S0, R1 and R0. Alternatively, the management server MS maydecide to calculate anyway delay and interarrival jitter, and possiblyto associate to the delay D and interarrival jitter J an “unreliablemeasurement” information.

It should be noticed that, according to this second embodiment, if thefirst packet and/or one or more packets M+1, 2M+1, 2M+1, etc. of a blockare lost during transmission from the transmitting node N1 to thereceiving node N2, this impairs the accuracy of the N mod M (N being thenumber of packets of that block) delay and interarrival jittermeasurements referred to that block. However, this does not impair theaccuracy of delay and interarrival jitter measurements referred to thefollowing blocks. Indeed, loss of the first packet and/or of one or morepackets M+1, 2M+1, 2M+1, etc. in a block does not prevent the receivingnode from recognizing the first packet and the packets M+1, 2M+1, 3M+1,etc. of the successive block, and to properly set the receivingtimestamp for that successive block. From then on, the delay andinterarrival jitter measurement will be then advantageously immune frominaccuracy due to loss of packets in the previous block.

Then, according to this second embodiment, the measurement period ofdelay and interarrival jitter relative to the packet flow FP is reducedfrom Tb to Tb/int(N/M), N being the number of packets in a block andint(N/M) indicating the integer part of N/M. Since the number of packetsin a block varies according to the traffic conditions, according to thissecond embodiment also the measurement period varies from block to blockaccording to the traffic conditions.

Although the method has been described in detail only for measuringdelay and/or interarrival jitter of a packet flow PF between twophysically adjacent nodes (i.e. the transmitting node N1 and thereceiving node N2), according to embodiments not shown in the drawings,it can be used for measuring delay and/or interarrival jitter of apacket flow between two non-physically adjacent nodes. In particular, itcan be used for measuring delay and/or interarrival jitter relative toan end-to-end packet flow transmitted from a given source node to agiven destination node. In this case, the source node preferablyidentifies the packets belonging to the end-to-end packet flow (e.g. byusing their source address and their destination address) and appliesthe above steps shown in FIG. 3 only to the identified packets. On theother hand, also the destination node identifies the packets belongingto the end-to-end packet flow, and applies the above steps shown in FIG.5 only to the identified packets. In this way, the source anddestination node may provide to the management server MS the countersC1, C0, C1 and C′0 and the timestamps S1, S0, R1, R0, that themanagement server MS may use for calculating an end-to-end delay and/orinterarrival jitter.

The above method may be applied both in case of point-to-pointtransmission, and in case of point-to-multipoint, or multicast,transmission. In this latter case, a separate measurement of delayand/or interarrival jitter can be performed for each destination node ofthe point-to-multipoint transmission.

According to further embodiments, the above disclosed method is appliedto an end-to-end packet flow for measuring the end-to-end delay and/orinterarrival jitter and also the amount of delay and/or interarrivaljitter accumulated upon transmission on each intermediate hop. To thispurpose, each intermediate node receiving packets to be forwarded to thedestination node acts both as a receiving node and as a transmittingnode. In particular, the intermediate node applies the above steps shownin FIG. 5 to packets received from an upstream node, while it appliesthe above steps shown in FIG. 3 to the same packets before forwardingthem to a downstream node. In this way, the source node generates afirst couple of counters C1, C0 and a first couple of transmissiontimestamps S1, S0, the first intermediate node generates a second coupleof counter C′1, C′0, a first couple of reception timestamps R1, R0, athird couple of counters C″1, C″0 and a second couple of transmissiontimestamps S′1, S′0, the second intermediate node generates a fourthcouple of counters C″′1, C′″0, a second couple of reception timestampsR′1, R′0, a fifth couple of counters C″′1, C″′0 and a third couple oftransmission timestamps S″1, S″0 and so on. The management server MSpreferably periodically detects the value of all these counters andtimestamps, and processes them for calculating the delay and/or theinterarrival jitter on each hop. For instance, the first couple ofcounters C1, C0, the first couple of transmission timestamps S1, S0, thesecond couple of counters C′1, C0 and the first couple of receptiontimestamps R1, R0 are used for calculating the delay and/or interarrivaljitter on the first hop between the source node and the firstintermediate node; the third couple of counters C″1, C″0, the secondcouple of transmission timestamps S′1, S′0, the fourth couple ofcounters C″′1, C″′0 and the second couple or reception timestamps R′1,R′0 are used for calculating the delay and/or the interarrival jitter onthe second hop between the first intermediate node and the secondintermediate node; and so on. The combination of the delay andinterarrival jitter results on each hop allows the management server MSto calculate the end-to-end delay and interarrival jitter relative tothe packet flow.

According to further embodiments not shown in the drawings, in additionto the bit bi, at least another bit of each packet Pki is reserved formarking the packets Pki. For instance, a further bit in the header ofeach packet Pki may be used for marking the packet Pki as follows: whenthis further bit is set to 0, it indicates that this packet Pki belongsto a packet flow currently not under measurement, while when thisfurther bit is equal to 1, it indicates that the packet Pki belongs to apacket flow currently under measurement. This advantageously allows todistinguish packets of a packet flow to be measured from other packetflows not to be measured without the need of reading any otherinformation in the packet header (such as for instance the source nodeaddress or the destination node address, as mentioned above). Accordingto still further embodiments not shown in the drawings, a number of bitsof the header of each packet Pki may be used for marking the packets soas to indicate different packet flows to be measured. For instance, 2bits of the header would allow identifying three different packetsflows, while 3 bits would allow identifying seven different packetflows.

The bit bi (and possible further bits for identifying the packets flowsto be measured) may be provided into the header of packets to betransmitted by suitably modifying the protocols according to which thepackets are formatted. For instance, if the packets Pki are formattedaccording to the MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching), the label fieldof the MPLS header may include the bit bi and may also be used foridentifying different packet flows to be measured.

In particular, FIG. 9 schematically shows an application of thecommunication network CN of FIG. 1 in case packets are formattedaccording to the MPLS.

In this situation, the label field of the packet headers is used foralternately transmitting the packets Pki from the transmitting node N1to the receiving node N2 through a first tunnel T1 (for a block periodTb) and a second tunnel T2 (for a block period Tb). Therefore, a firstpacket flow PF1 is transmitted through the first tunnel T1, and a secondpacket flow PF2 is transmitted through the second tunnel T2.

For performing a time measurement on the link between N1 and N2, delayand/or interarrival jitter are separately measured on the first tunnelT1 and on the second tunnel T2. In particular, the delay and /orinterarrival jitter of packets entering and exiting each tunnel ismeasured, substantially with a same detection period Td, according tothe procedure described above.

If a number of packet flows has to be transmitted from the transmittingnode N1 to the receiving node N2, each packet flow is assigned to arespective pair of tunnels. For each packet flow, the time measurementis performed as described above.

1. A method comprising: a) at a transmitting node: dividing -said-a dataflow in first blocks comprising data units having a feature set to afirst value and in second blocks comprising further data units havingsaid feature set to a second value, said first blocks alternating intime with said second blocks; and transmitting said first blocks andsaid second blocks, said transmitting comprising increasing a firsttransmission counter while said data units of said first blocks aretransmitted and setting a first transmission timestamp to a current timewhen a predetermined data unit of each of said first blocks istransmitted; b) at a receiving node, receiving said first blocks andsaid second blocks, said receiving comprising increasing a firstreception counter while said data units of said first blocks arereceived and setting a first reception timestamp to a further currenttime when said predetermined data unit of each of said first blocks isreceived; and c) at a management server cooperating with a communicationnetwork including the transmitting node and the receiving node,periodically detecting with a detection period Td values of said firsttransmission counter, said first reception counter, said firsttransmission timestamp and said first reception timestamp, andperforming a time measurement on said data flow based on detected valuesof said first transmission counter, said first reception counter, saidfirst transmission timestamp and said first reception timestamp.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein said dividing comprises markingeach data unit of said first blocks by setting at least one bit of saiddata unit to said first value and marking each further data unit of saidsecond blocks by setting at least one bit of said further data unit tosaid first value.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein saiddividing comprises dividing said data flow in said first blocks and saidsecond blocks all having a time duration equal to a block period.
 4. Themethod according to claim 3 wherein, in said periodically detecting withsaid detection period, said block period is equal to at least twice saiddetection period.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: at saidstep a), said transmitting further comprises increasing a secondtransmission counter while said further data units of said second blocksare transmitted and setting a second transmission timestamp to a currenttime when a predetermined further data unit of each of said secondblocks is transmitted; at said step b), said receiving further comprisesincreasing a second transmission counter while said further data unitsof said second blocks are received and setting a second receptiontimestamp to a further current time when said predetermined further dataunit of each of said second blocks is received; and at said step c),said detecting further comprises periodically detecting values of saidsecond transmission counter, said second reception counter, said secondtransmission timestamp and said second reception timestamp, andperforming said time measurement on said data flow based also ondetected values of said second transmission counter, said secondreception counter, said second transmission timestamp and said secondreception timestamp.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein at saidstep c) said performing said time measurement comprises, at eachdetection period, comparing the value of said first transmissioncounter, the value of said second transmission counter, the value ofsaid first reception counter and the value of said second receptioncounter detected at said detection period with one or more previouslydetected values of said first transmission counter, said secondtransmission counter, said first reception counter and said secondreception counter for determining whether each of said firsttransmission counter, said second transmission counter, said firstreception counter and said second reception counter currently has aconstant value or is increasing.
 7. The method according to claim 6,wherein at said step c) said performing said time measurement comprises,at each detection period: if said first transmission counter has aconstant value and said second transmission counter is increasing,setting a measurement transmission timestamp equal to the value of saidfirst transmission timestampdetected at said detection period; and ifsaid first transmission counter is increasing and said secondtransmission counter has a constant value, setting said measurementtransmission timestamp equal to the value of said second transmissiontimestamp detected at said detection period.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, wherein at said step c) said performing said time measurementcomprises, at each detection period: if said first reception counter hasa constant value and said second reception counter is increasing,setting a measurement reception timestamp equal to the value of saidfirst reception timestamp detected at said detection period; and if saidfirst reception counter is increasing and said second reception counterhas a constant value, setting said measurement reception timestamp equalto the value of said second reception timestamp detected at saiddetection period.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein at saidstep c) said performing said time measurement comprises, at eachdetection period, calculating a delay as a difference between saidmeasurement reception timestamp and said measurement transmissiontimestamp.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein at said step c)said performing said time measurement comprises, at each detectionperiod, calculating an interarrival jitter as a difference between saiddelay calculated at said detection period an a previous delay calculatedduring a previous detection period.
 11. The method according to claim 1,wherein: at said step a), said setting said first transmission timestampto a current time is performed each time a first data unit of said firstblocks is transmitted; and at said step b), said setting said firstreception timestamp to a further current time is performed each timesaid first data unit of said first blocks is received.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 11, wherein: at said step a), said setting said firsttransmission timestamp to a current time is performed also each time an(n*M)+1 data unit of said first blocks is transmitted; and at said stepb), said setting said first reception timestamp to a further currenttime is performed also each time said (n*M)+1 data unit of said firstblocks is received, M being a fixed integer number and n being aninteger index.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said stepc) further comprises periodically calculating a data loss for validatingsaid time measurement.
 14. A communication network comprising; atransmitting node; a receiving node; and a management server suitablefor cooperating with said communication network, wherein: saidtransmitting node is configured to: in first blocks comprising dataunits having a feature set to a first value and in second blockscomprising further data units having said feature set to a second value,said first blocks alternating in time with said second blocks; andtransmit said first blocks and said second blocks, said transmittingcomprising increasing a first transmission counter while said data unitsof said first blocks are transmitted and setting a first transmissiontimestamp to a current time when a predetermined data unit of each ofsaid first blocks is transmitted; said receiving node is configured toreceive said first blocks and said second blocks, said receivingcomprising increasing a first reception counter while said data units ofsaid first blocks are received and setting a first reception timestampto a further current time when said predetermined data unit of each ofsaid first blocks is received; and said management server is configuredto periodically detect with a detection period Td values of said firsttransmission counter, said first reception counter, said firsttransmission timestamp and said first reception timestamp, and perform atime measurement on said data flow based on detected values of saidfirst transmission counter, said first reception counter, said firsttransmission timestamp and said first reception timestamp.
 15. Acomputer readable storage medium having software code portions storedthereon that, when executed by a computer, perform the steps of themethod of: a) at a transmitting node: dividing a data flow in firstblocks comprising data units having a feature set to a first value andin second blocks comprising further data units having said feature setto a second value, said first blocks alternating in time with saidsecond blocks; and transmitting said first blocks and said secondblocks, said transmitting comprising increasing a first transmissioncounter while said data units of said first blocks are transmitted andsetting a first transmission timestamp to a current time when apredetermined data unit of each of said first blocks is transmitted; b)at a receiving node, receiving said first blocks and said second blocks,said receiving comprising increasing a first reception counter whilesaid data units of said first blocks are received and setting a firstreception timestamp to a further current time when said predetermineddata unit of each of said first blocks is received; and c) at amanagement server cooperating with a communication network including thetransmitting node and the receiving node, periodically detecting with adetection period Td values of said first transmission counter, saidfirst reception counter, said first transmission timestamp and saidfirst reception timestamp, and performing a time measurement on saiddata flow based on detected values of said first transmission counter,said first reception counter, said first transmission timestamp and saidfirst reception timestamp.